BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — Halloween is in just a few days, and it’s your last chance to get your screams in and check out your local haunted houses, hayrides and trails.

What You Need To Know

  • Grissettown Haunted Trail is open 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Halloween

  • It costs $15 to enter, and all the money made from the trail benefits the fire department

  • The trail takes all year to set up, and right after this Halloween they’ll start to get it ready for next year

In Brunswick County, the Grissettown Haunted Trail, put on by the Grissettown Longwood Fire and Rescue team, is a haunt that’s as charitable as it is chilling.

A Grissettown Haunted Trail actor runs with a chainsaw. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)

Grissettown is filled with ghosts, clowns and all your favorite, familiar, horror film faces.

This award-winning haunt put on by Tal Grissett and the fire department takes over 300 hours to set up, but it’s worth it.

“We spend, we start all year, we spend two hours each week, or two or three weeks out of the month, working on this trail getting ready for next year,” Grissett said. “So after Halloween we start over for next year.”

All that hard work pays off. Grissett says that between 5,000 and 6,000 people visit the haunt each year, making them $75,000 to $90,000 a year.

Tal Grissett walks through the Grissettown Haunted Trail. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)

All that money goes back to the firefighters. The trail acts as a fundraiser to help them maintain their department throughout the year. 

“We used to do a turkey shoot and things like that and the price of meat went up and the price of shooting these shotgun shells went up,” Grissett said. “So we decided to do something a little different, so we started the haunted trail.”

The money also helps pay for firetrucks.

“We purchased a new truck in 2021, and the funds help pay for that truck. We have 15 years of payments we have to make, so it’s helping pay that payment,” Grissett said. "It’s a rescue truck that services the whole community and about half of Brunswick County for rescue.”

The funds from this year's haunted trail will help pay for a new rescue truck. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)

For the firefighters at Grissett Longwood Fire and Rescue, it’s a fun way to make the money they need to keep doing what they love: helping members of their community.

In the meantime, however, they’re OK with scaring them… after all, the best part of a trick is also getting a treat!

The Grissetttown Haunted Trail takes about 30 minutes to get through and is open through Halloween from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. It costs $15 to enter.

For a list of other haunts in the area, click here.

A Grissettown Haunted Trail actor wields a chainsaw. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)